But by the time the 2012 travel period for Thanksgiving and Christmas rolls around, there should be about 200 electric-vehicle charging stations in the state, primarily in the Chicago region, according to a director of the Fox Valley Electric Vehicle Association.

“There’s more attention now that people are starting to buy them,” said Ted Lowe, an electrical engineer who drives a converted 1992 Chevy S10 pickup that has been his primary means of transportation for eight years.

The pickup has a range of about 50 miles. For longer trips, which is not all that often, Lowe said he rents a car or takes public transportation.

With about 150 members, the Fox Valley group is one of the few Midwest chapters of the national Electric Vehicle Association. But Lowe said the association actually was founded as a result of the oil embargo in the 1970s.

“Our ancestors were engineering types, and when the oil embargo hit, they said, “We don’t want to be waiting in gas lines,’” Lowe said. He added that membership jumped to more than 250 when gasoline prices in the Chicago region neared $5 a gallon in 2008.

He expects the association to get even more attention now that commercial electric-powered models such as the Nissan Leaf, Ford Focus and Chevy Volt are reaching the market.

“You can’t displace gasoline overnight, but it should happen and could happen,” said Lowe.

What to charge?

The Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates the state’s utilities, also is studying ways to ready the power grid for electric vehicles.

“They’ve been working on this for about a year with different policy committees to bring the electric vehicles into the system,” said spokeswoman Beth Bosch.

She said ICC policy groups have analyzed issues ranging from how utilities would charge for public charging stations to the effect of electric-vehicle demand on the power grid. Bosch said initial findings from the commission probably will be released by the end of this year.

Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law this summer bills creating a grant program for companies that buy electric vehicles and establishing an advisory council to encourage electric-vehicle use.

Time to prepare

The city of Naperville has begun to upgrade its municipal electric system with smart meters to accommodate electric vehicles, said Phillip “Doc” Mueller, senior vice president of government affairs for the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency.

“It will allow them to provide the pricing that’s going to be needed if electric cars are to be deployed in wide areas,” said Mueller.

The IMEA, based in Springfield, represents 33 municipal utilities and one electric cooperative, including City Water, Light and Power in Springfield.

Mueller said CWLP is among municipal utilities that have begun to analyze the long-term effect of electric-car demand on the power grid.

“If you have a large penetration of these vehicles, and they’re all charging at the same time, the infrastructure wasn’t really designed for that,” he said.

However, he said, utilities have time to prepare. Widespread use of electric vehicles probably is still years away, especially in northern climates, where hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles are likely to prove more popular.

“These vehicles are still relatively new and do have some limitations. They just won’t last as long on a cold winter day as they do if they’re on the Gulf Coast,” said Mueller.